Chapter 6: This Is Our Secret

Earnest himself cringed at that introduction and decided never to use it again.

"Just forget about the last part.

Okay, now I know you have many questions, and I possibly couldn't explain what you have witnessed, right?"

"mhm" Hermione nodded at the question but internally scolded him, 'But you can tell the truth.'

She held back her retort because the scene still flustered her.

"So, why not let it be a secret, of course I will tell you but I will tell you after we graduate from Hogwartz, how about that? It can just be our little secret, right?"

Hermione still has a reluctant expression on her face but decides not to pry too much on other's secrets, maybe this is something typical of a wizard.

'Do wizards suffer from these things? Is it monthly? But it's more horrible than what we see in female muggles. And he's fine and fresh in five minutes, it's never that fast in....'

"Oi!, you are thinking something rude, right?" Hermione's thoughts were disrupted by Earnest as she hurriedly declined the boy's accusation with a faint blush.

'Bad Hermione! you shouldn't think about these things, maybe it's something private not to be seen by others.' After that, she looked at Earnest with an apologetic expression.

'Why do I still get the feeling that there is a huge misunderstanding here? Not that it matters, but how huge can it be?'

"So are we friends now?" asked Hermione with hope in her voice.

Earnest also realized this is still Hermione who was ostracized by her schoolmates because of her bossy nature. But that is also quite cute.

'Not to mention I was also a nerd way back in school, and I still would be if not forced into a war, so I can feel how lonely she must have felt. It's like no one appreciates us even if we try to help them. I know one must take into consideration the complexities of emotions when we deal with others but as children, you can't expect us to do that, and hence we were left alone. For me, I still had one or two friends from other schools, just like me, but it still hurts to be excluded from the group and only to be used during exams.

Why am I getting sentimental all of a sudden? Maybe seeing myself in Hermione, huh?

Seeing her in movies and real life hits differently. In movies, it's just that a girl just like me made some friends through some fortunate or unfortunate circumstances. But here I can see her expressions and feel her hope. She is very much real, not a character to connect with.

Maybe in this life, I can give you a real friend, or maybe you are my redemption for my past self. I don't know. At first, I thought of just protecting my family and becoming a strong wizard quitely. I might have to borrow some money from pureblood families but this is for the sake of them only, if not the world will end. And the knowledge of the plot is quite necessary, if nothing changes, I want to take my family and shift to somewhere near Australia or maybe New Zealand by the end of the fourth year. I guess they might be peaceful. And I might need to use some unscrupulous means or might even force them to move. Just let the war pass and we can go back if you want.

They might think that it is a cowardly approach, and maybe it is and maybe even my family will hate me for this. But as someone who has seen or lived through World War 3, and even lost my family to it, I can confidently say that this kind of result where my family hates me will be a lot better than seeing their cold bodies.

But now seeing this girl here, maybe I can see my reflection, I don't want to leave her to this fate. Carrying two useless men throughout the story and even marrying the worse of the two. Hell, I still can't get over the fact that an incompetent fool can get the love of this girl. From what I can see, she looks quite cute, better than Emma Watson and not as described in the books.

What's worse is that she has to obliviate her parents when she chooses her friends. Quite a huge sacrifice. Maybe her fate can be changed.'

"Yeah, you have seen such a big secret, and only the best of friends can keep these big secrets for each other, right?"

"mhm!!" Hermione nodded with a beaming expression of joy on her face. She successfully made her first friend and that too with a secret this big, this gave her a feeling of closeness to this friend.

"This is our secret!

I promise." With this, she took out her pinky finger to make a promise and Earnest also linked his pinky finger with hers and the two made a promise of friendship which changed the fate of Hermione Granger and thereby Harry Potter, the boy who lived.

............

During the night, when Hogwartz was welcoming freshers under the tense gaze of both professors and students. The culprit who was responsible for this unrest was standing in front of a huge potion cauldron.

Gellert Grindelwald and his acolytes were present in a dense forest of Albania. Vinda stood at the forefront with a coffin lying by her side.

Another acolyte stood just beside her and on his side laid Percival Graves, unconscious.

They all were waiting for the potion in the cauldron to complete so that Grindelwald can start the ceremony of his return.